In these times with an ever increasing global population, there is an ever increasing demand for energy. Although energy produced by the consumption of fossil fuels is physically easy, personally convenient and relatively inexpensive now, change is in the air. We consume more fossil fuels now than ever before and the demand is constantly increasing while our reserves continue to be reduced. There are also well-known unintended consequences related to the use of fossil fuels such as air pollution and global warming. It is incumbent on us as stewards of our planet to use only what we need and save all that we can for future generations.
Since the invention of the Otto cycle engine in 1876 there have been many improvements and advancements to the internal combustion (IC) engine design. Yet after 139 years of constant development the IC engine used in a conventional car is still only about 20% efficient. A substantial amount of heat energy is simply wasted. Transforming this wasted heat energy into usable energy is just one of several focal points of this invention.
The basic design of today's internal combustion (IC) engines has gone relatively unchanged. Common IC engines have 2, 4, 8, or even 16 cylinders. Yet all commonly used IC engines share the same basic principles. A piston is forced downward within a cylinder (away from the combustion chamber above) by the pressure of an air/fuel combustion within the combustion chamber causing a connecting rod (attached to both the piston and a crankshaft) to apply off-center forces to a crankshaft causing rotation of the crankshaft. The rotating crankshaft is then coupled either directly (to a propeller, pump or generator etc.), or indirectly (to a clutch or transmission first, then to wheels, hoists or drilling equipment etc.) for the purpose of providing rotating mechanical forces outside of the engine, required to do work outside of the engine.
The most commonly used engines (like the ones used in cars, small planes, buses and trucks etc) are gasoline or diesel powered, 4, 6 or 8 cylinder, four cycle engines. For the purpose of this description of the operation and problems (associated with the most widely used group of engines), we will focus our attention on the standard gasoline fueled—spark ignited—four cycle automobile engine.
Some typical problems of this type of engine include;                1. The operating speed; as the specific function of all IC engines is to provide rotating, mechanical energy outside of the engine (by way of attachment to the crankshaft of the engine), and as most applications that require IC engines also require broad variations in the operating speed of the IC engine (for example; the typical engine used in automobile applications operates between 600 RPM and 6,000 RPM), and as both the low-speed operation and the high-speed operation of the IC engine provide greatly reduced levels of output power and fuel efficiency while producing increased levels of pollutants, the variations in the operating speed of an internal combustion engine are clearly undesirable.                    a. By contrast the engine of the present invention was specifically designed to operate at a relatively fixed speed allowing the design parameters to maximize combustion efficiency, output power and fuel efficiency, while reducing or eliminating the production of pollutants at all times during operation.                        2. The crankshaft; the use of a crankshaft in a conventional IC engine (especially in multi-cylinder applications) demands that all facets of the piston movement are identical. The crankshaft dictates that the overall length of the piston stroke during each cycle of operation, the rate of piston acceleration and deceleration during each cycle of operation, and the time spent during each cycle of operation must all remain the same during each cycle of operation.                    a. By contrast the cam-track configuration of the preferred embodiment of the present invention was specifically designed to allow broad variations of the piston movement or non-movement, independently during each of the four (+) cycles of operation provided by this design.                        3. Cycles of operation; a 4 cycle engine (the most common design) provides 4 distinct and separate functions which are required in the course of 1 complete combustion cycle. The 4 cycles include the intake cycle (an outward movement of the piston away from the combustion chamber), the compression cycle (an inward movement of the piston towards the combustion chamber), the combustion cycle (this is the only power producing stroke and it is an outward movement of the piston away from the combustion chamber) and the exhaust cycle (an inward movement of the piston towards the combustion chamber). Each of the aforementioned cycles are defined by the 4 distinct yet identical (with the exception of the direction of the piston movement within the cylinder) movements of the piston within the cylinder. Each of the aforementioned cycles of the piston requires 180° of rotation by the crankshaft. Therefore the crankshaft must rotate a total of 720° or two complete rotations in order to accomplish 1 complete combustion event.                    a. By contrast the engine of the preferred embodiment of the present invention can accomplish each of the 4 typical, independent cycles of operation (intake, compression, combustion and exhaust), in combination with the added cylinder purge/cooling cycle, cylinder pre-compression cycle and the pressure boost process, while moving the piston only once in an inward direction towards the combustion chamber during the compression cycle, and once in an outward direction away from the combustion chamber during the combustion & pressure boost cycle or power stroke. Furthermore, the inward movement of the piston during the compression cycle can be independently tailored to provide the most efficient rate of acceleration and speed throughout the compression process. Similarly, the outward movement of the piston during the combustion & pressure boost cycle or power stroke can also be independently tailored to provide the most efficient rate of acceleration and speed throughout the combustion, pressure boost and power stroke process. Furthermore, each of the above-mentioned complete combustion cycles can be accomplished in the engine of the present invention, a minimum of 2 times during the course of a single revolution of the engine, providing (at minimum) 4 times the number of combustion and pressure boost events per cylinder when running at the same speed as a conventional Otto cycle engine with the same number of cylinders. This feature provides significantly greater power density and efficiency.                        4. More about the cycles of operation; as noted above in section 3, regarding the operation of a conventional four cycle engine, each of the cycles are defined by the 4 distinct yet identical movements of the piston within the cylinder as dictated by the pistons interaction with the rotating crankshaft. Unfortunately, it is not desirable to have each of the cycles of operation configured in such a way that they are identical in every way. In order to better understand the problem we will look closer at the combustion cycle, which is the only cycle that actually produces working power. Although the piston movement is always dictated by the crankshaft and the reversal of piston direction is always 180° apart, the combustion cycle can be greater than 180°. In order to achieve the greatest working pressure within the cylinder, during the downward piston stroke of the combustion cycle, it is necessary to start the combustion process approximately 12° before the piston reaches the top dead center (TDC) position of the crankshaft. As engine speed increases the spark will need to be advanced even more before TDC to allow sufficient time for the fuel to fully burn during the combustion cycle. In a typical engine the movement of the piston is so fast that the fuel is not completely consumed until the piston reaches approximately 20° after TDC. During high-speed operation of the engine, the piston movement is so fast that the fuel is never completely consumed. The most obvious problem with this series of events is, if the spark is initiated at 12° before TDC (and even earlier during high-speed operation) this means that the combustion of the air/fuel mixture within the cylinder begins during the upward movement of the piston while still in the compression cycle. Therefore, pressure from the early combustion of the air/fuel mixture (added to the already high pressure within the cylinder during the end of the compression cycle), continues to increase applying greater downward pressure on the face of the piston while it is still trying to move upward to its TDC position. This is a negative rotational force, which slows the engine speed, reduces the engines output power and requires the consumption of additional fuel.                    a. By contrast the engine of a preferred embodiment of the present invention eliminates the need to ignite the air/fuel mixture prior to the completion of the compression cycle or TDC. Because of the great flexibility of design offered by the cam-track configuration the piston is allowed to freely reach its TDC position first, thereby producing no negative rotational forces during the process. Ignition starts at TDC and the piston is made to stop its relative movement within the cylinder until such time as the combustion of the air/fuel mixture is partially completed or completed to a point where the downward movement of the piston is considered most desirable and effective. Unlike the typical crankshaft engine mentioned above, the cam-track will provide positive rotational forces as soon as the piston is allowed to begin its descent and throughout its descent to the end of its usable stroke. Unlike the typical crankshaft engine cited above the cam track configuration of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will increase engine speed, increase output power and reduce fuel consumption.                        5. There have been several Rotary engines as well as crankshaft style reciprocating piston engines in the past that have attempted to increase the production of power, reduce engine temperature and reduce NOx emissions through the use of water injection systems. But these improvements have the same limitations as other types of crankshaft IC engines.                    a. In the preferred embodiment of the engine of the present invention, the key feature to successful operation and combustion efficiency is consistency. The combination of the unique, relatively fixed-speed cam-style engine having infinitely variable and completely independent control of the pistons motion within the cylinder during any point of any cycle of operation, allows complete independent and predictable control of the combustion process so as to consistently optimize the production of heat energy. Furthermore, this unique cam-style engine design provides completely independent control of the power conversion process so as to further optimize the production of the rotational forces, in order to maximize the production of output power. The combination of these above features, further combined with a separate predictable and independently controllable direct water (or other rapidly expanding medium) injection feature, provides the means to successfully:                            i. stop the linear motion of the piston at the top of its stroke within the cylinder during ignition of the air/fuel mixture and hold that position until such time as the maximum allowable temperature of the gasses are attained prior to allowing the piston to move out and away from the combustion chamber allowing maximum energy production;                ii. limit the maximum allowable temperature of the gasses within the cylinder during and after the combustion process through the injection of water (or other rapidly expanding medium) so as to control or eliminate the production of NOx gases within the cylinder;                iii. increase pressure within the cylinder during and after the combustion process through the addition of a secondary steam (or other rapidly expanding medium) producing event within the cylinder during and after the heat producing combustion process so as to increase the production of usable power;                iv. increase the piston stroke within the cylinder during the combustion/power stroke as a direct result of the combined pressures and increased gaseous volume of the combustion gases and the secondary steam (or other rapidly expanding medium) producing event so as to increase the production of usable power;                v. maximize the conversion of heat energy into usable work during and after the combustion event through the independent control of the piston speed throughout the extended piston stroke length so as to harvest more usable output power;                vi. eliminate wasted fuel and power caused by the early ignition of the air/fuel mixture within the cylinder during the compression cycle as is required in a conventional crankshaft engine;                vii. eliminate wasted fuel and power caused by the incomplete combustion of the air/fuel mixture within the cylinder during high-speed operation of a conventional crankshaft engine;                viii. eliminate wasted fuel and power caused by the poor combustion characteristics of the air/fuel mixture typical during low-speed operation of a conventional crankshaft engine;                ix. reduce the operating temperature of the engine (by using heat energy to convert water or any other suitable rapidly expanding medium to steam or any other environmentally friendly byproduct of expansion) so as to reduce or eliminate the need for an additional cooling system;                x. reduce fuel consumption while increasing operating efficiency and the production of usable output power, by using typically unused heat energy from the combustion process to convert water or any other suitable rapidly expanding medium to steam or any other environmentally friendly byproduct of expansion.                                                